Okay, so it’s not actually a sequel. In fact, it’s not even a movie yet, but that hasn’t stopped Hollywood voices from discussing the next Batman movie—three or four years ahead of time.

If you’re a video gamer the next Batman movie may look very familiar.

While “The Dark Knight Rises” continues to climb at the box-office (with total global earnings now officially above $1 billion), there is already lots of industry talk about what will happen next to the Caped Crusader. Christopher Nolan has already stated “DKR” will be the last film in the trilogy the director started with 2005’s “Batman Begins.” So, as massively successful as this franchise reboot has been, it’s time to start re-imagining the next series of Batman films.

Unfortunately fans eager to see a new Batman movies will have to wait – a new Batman movie isn’t expected to hit theaters until 2016.

Lunatics in the Asylum
That main rumor circulating the fan sites is the newly rebooted franchise will be based on the “Batman: Arkham Asylum” video game produced by Eidos Interactive/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (and developed by Rocksteady Studios on the Epic Games Unreal engine). Reportedly, Warner Bros. movie executives have been wowed by the mammoth popularity of the “Arkham Asylum” game, which spawned a sequel.

Both games received raves from game sites and top game magazines. The original dynamic, third-person action/adventure found our old friend, The Joker, running a demented asylum full of Gotham’s most diabolical and dangerous criminals.

A League of Their Own
The Batman 2016 project looks to be just one in an entire new series of blockbusters featuring the stalwart superheroes of the DC Universe. According to rumors, the Batman movie will be preceded by a Justice League film due for release in 2015, not to mention the next Superman movie—“Man of Steel,” now scheduled for 2013 release. (Also in the pipeline: films featuring Wonder Woman and The Flash.)

Guest Scars
The Joker figures prominently in “Arkham Asylum,” which has comics fans wondering if Batman’s greatest villain will return in the 2016 reboot. This could prove tricky for any actor bold enough to take on the role, which was made unforgettable by Heath Ledger in his final (and Oscar-winning) film performance in “The Dark Knight.”

Batman’s main nemesis, The Joker, is the head madman in charge of “Arkham Asylum.”

Fans are also wondering if arch-criminal Bane—who’s still battling it out with Batman in theaters, by the way—might show up in the next Batman project. Bane (played in “DKR” by Tom Hardy) appears in “Arkham Asylum,” so there could be some basis for bringing back the grate-faced villain in the next Batman blockbuster.

Never Can Say Goodbye
Even though director Christopher Nolan has now finished his Batman trilogy, he is still being consulted by Warner Bros. concerning where and how the franchise should move forward from here. Industry people in the know expect Nolan to serve as an Executive Producer on the next Batman films. If the mortals who run the DC Universe have their way, the next few years will see an explosion of movies starring DC characters.

Reportedly, producers instructed the digital filmmakers who will bring The Justice League to the big screen that this new film should have a unique visual look…and look nothing like 2012′s “The Avengers.”